Rep. Barry Moore won the Republican primary runoff in the Alabama Senate race, NBC News projects, making him the heavy favorite in the general election to succeed Sen. Tommy Tuberville this fall.

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Moore, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, defeated former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson for the GOP nomination. The two candidates were forced into a runoff after no one secured more than 50% of the vote in a crowded May 19 primary field.

Alabama’s Senate seat opened up after Tuberville launched his run for governor last year. He easily won the GOP nomination in the race last month.

In a victory speech Tuesday, Moore pointed to his relationship with Trump.

“When I call [Trump], he takes my calls, and we can work together with the senators, that delegation and certainly the president of the United States to make sure that Alabama has an opportunity to bring the jobs back here that we need,” Moore said.

Trump held a tele-rally with Moore last week and reiterated his endorsement Monday on Truth Social, calling Moore “an America First Patriot who has been with me from the very beginning.” Moore’s campaign featured Trump’s endorsements in multiple advertisements.

Moore, a former state lawmaker who was first elected to Congress in 2020, has pushed against allowing transgender women and girls to play in women’s sports and criticized “lawless Democrat sanctuary” cities while positioning himself as a staunch pro-gun advocate.

Hudson, who is the CEO of groups that work with law enforcement to combat child trafficking and focus on firearms instruction, tried to run as a political outsider. He ran unsuccessfully for Jefferson County sheriff in 2022.

And while Moore won Trump’s backing, Hudson campaigned as a “warrior for President Trump’s America First Agenda.”

“I will deploy to the Senate to defend President Trump with the same ethos they taught us in SEAL training: I am never out of the fight and I will not fail,” Hudson said on his website.

The runoff campaign turned negative. An outside group aligned with Hudson accused Moore, who served in the Alabama National Guard and Army Reserve, of “stolen valor.” In a 2024 letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed by dozens of GOP lawmakers, the Republicans accused Walz, then the Democratic vice presidential nominee, of misrepresenting his military service. Moore is listed as a signer, which marked him as having served as a “staff sergeant.”

Records shared by Moore’s campaign, though, indicated Moore was discharged with a rank of cadet.

Moore’s campaign released further information, saying his pay grade was “E-6 Staff Sergeant,” adding that “Barry has never called himself a retired Staff Sergeant, or even a Staff Sergeant nor did he retire from service — he was honorably discharged.”

Moore’s campaign also defended the title discrepancy on the Walz letter in a release on his website.

“That was a coalition letter signed by a lot of people, and the Staff Sergeant and retired title line was supplied by its organizers,” the website said. “He has never used that title and never affirmed it.”

Moore also faced questions about a 2020 ad in which he said he has “been in those combat boots,” though he did not serve overseas or in combat.

“Members of the National Guard wear combat boots to train. Here is a link to the shoe,” Moore’s website said, responding to questions about the ad.

Moore also said in a video on social media that he was “never in combat, and I never claimed to be.”

Source: Election results are from The Associated Press.

By The New York Times election results team: Michael Andre, Neil Berg, Matthew Bloch, Lily Boyce, Irineo Cabreros, Nico Chilla, Nate Cohn, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Andrew Fischer, Martín González Gómez, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Zach Levitt, Ilana Marcus, Alicia Parlapiano, Dan Simmons-Ritchie, Caroline Soler, Charlie Smart, Luke Vrotsos and Christine Zhang.

Additional contributions by Camille Baker, Sarah Cahalan, Amanda Cordero, Patrick Hays, Jacob Meschke, Evan Reynolds and Jessica White.

Edited by Wilson Andrews, Lindsey Rogers Cook, William P. Davis, Kenan Davis, Amy Hughes, Ben Koski and Allison McCartney.

Source: Election results are from The Associated Press.

Two of the U.S. Department of Education’s biggest responsibilities will shift to other federal agencies: safeguarding student civil rights and supervising programs for students with disabilities.

The Trump administration said Tuesday it will move the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). OSERS manages programs that support students with disabilities, offering guidance and oversight to ensure states follow the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law that guarantees disabled students access to an equitable public education.

The administration announced it would also move the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the U.S. Department of Justice. OCR’s staff of civil rights attorneys are tasked with protecting students in K-12 schools and universities from discrimination based on disability, gender, race and national origin. OCR has been in tumult for months, targeted repeatedly by the Trump administration for staff cuts, then reversals of those cuts.

The moves to HHS and DOJ would further dismantle an agency that President Donald Trump has vowed to close, and it would leave the Education Department with a shrinking number of responsibilities.

In a letter obtained by NPR, the Education Department’s Kim Richey, who is assistant secretary for civil rights, and Kim Rogers, the acting assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, said the shifts are part of an administration commitment to end what they called micromanagement.

“With this in mind, and after careful consideration, OSERS will be partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the administration of programs for infants, toddlers, children, students and individuals with disabilities,” Richey and Rogers wrote. “Likewise, the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will partner with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen enforcement of federal civil rights laws.”

While the administration claimed the move would better serve some of the nation’s most vulnerable children, disability rights advocates sounded the alarm.

“This is another vindictive attempt to undermine public education,” says Denise Forte, president and CEO of Ed Trust, a think tank focused on addressing education inequity. “And at this moment, when we know that children with disabilities need more support, not less — HHS is not the place for that.”

This is the latest effort in Secretary Linda McMahon’s self-described push to “peel back the layers of federal bureaucracy by partnering with agencies that are better suited to manage programs and empowering states and local leaders to oversee the rest.”

Edited by: Nirvi Shah and Nicole Cohen
Visual design and development by: LA Johnson